Miles more to address highway maintenance backlog

A combination of old and new technology is being deployed to improve the maintenance of roads in Croydon.

Streetscene officers are being called on to support Croydon Council's new roads and streetworks team by keeping watch on the state of carriageway surfaces and in particular by monitoring the progress of utility works. The streetscene staff will have a responsibility to ensure that road openings are closed on schedule and will feedback information on any overruns so that the council can impose penalties on utilities that keep roads dug up for longer than the agreed time span.

Also under development is the borough's first, comprehensive highways asset management plan. This computerised package will incorporate an inventory, condition survey, deterioration forecast, life-cycle planning and improvement and implementation plans for all the borough's roads. This work is being carried out in partnership with eight other south London boroughs and the end result is expected to be critical to the future strategic management of highways throughout the borough.

Meanwhile the next meeting of the council's cabinet on 22 April is expected to approve the start of a high priority programme of road works. This follows severe deterioration over winter months which has further increased the backlog of highways maintenance.

On top of the £4.35 million already allocated for road resurfacing and repairs in 2008/09 the council has now received an extra £554,000 from Transport for London for the maintenance of specific classified roads.

Said cabinet member for environment and highways, Councillor Phil Thomas: "We're very much aware that the condition of the borough's highways is a matter of increasing public concern - largely as a consequence of an historic failure to do what's necessary to keep on top of the situation. We're now involved in an expensive 'catch-up' situation which has been worsened by the winter weather. Even though this year we'll be spending more of roads maintenance than at any time since 1996 we're still facing a backlog of around £12 million.

"Implementing the annual highways maintenance works programme will begin to redress the situation on a priority basis. And the steps we're taking both to strengthen monitoring and also to produce a comprehensive inventory or our roads - one of the borough's principle assets - will be valuable in ensuring we don't again fall so far behind in this important area."

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